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| CLASSIC KAPAMPANGAN DICTONARY - AN INTRODUCTION |
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Foreword Kapampangan, a member of the Malay-Polynesian family of languages, is one of the 8 major native languages spoken in the Philippines. According to a survey conducted by the University of Washington in l994, there are over two million Kapampangan speakers in the Philippines and abroad. Among such speakers well known in the international community include the late former president Diosdado Macapagal and the martyr, Ninoy Aquino. Pampangans (people who speak Kapampangan, or Pampango, as the Spaniards called the language) live 45 miles north of Manila, in the area where the former U.S. bases Clark and Subic are located. Their forefathers must have been among the most civilized, because unlike the other tribes who settled in the highlands, they chose to settle in what one would consider a choice area – a vast, fertile plain traversed by a network of navigable rivers. Their provinces, Pampanga and Tarlac are among those proudly symbolized by the 8 rays of the sun in the Philippine flag which represent the 8 provinces that instigated the revolution against Spain in l896. Prior to that landmark event, the Pampangans, especially those from Macabebe, the same heroic people led by Bambalito in the Battle of Bankusay to rescue Manila from de Goiti, were the loyal mercenaries of Spain for almost four centuries. They were the fighters who were highly praised by no less than the king of Spain himself for their sterling bravery against the Dutch, the British, the Portuguese, the Chinese and the Moros, and who helped unite the peoples of the archipelago and kept the islands intact under one government. In fact there was a saying then that three Pampangans plus one Spaniard equaled four Spaniards. So true was this that their eventual defection from the Spanish Army was the key element in the downfall of the Spanish regime and which, in effect, mounted unprecedented strength to the revolutionists many of whom were also their brother-Pampangueños. On account of the interrelations between the Pampangans and the Spaniards, so many Spanish words found their way into the Kapampangan language. However, the language is still Malayan – much like the one brought over by Prince Balagtas and his henchmen who came from Sumatra. During that time, they already had a fair degree of civilization, and an alphabet of their own. There was a moment in time when the Pampangans had their heyday and their province was in full glory. An article, entitled “The Glory That Was Pampanga” even appeared in the now defunct Philippines Free Press. In one of his articles, the noted journalist, Quijano de Manila, at one time dubbed Pampanga as a land of paradox. He wrote something like: “The president of the country is from Pampanga. The cardinal, the prince of the Catholic Church is, likewise, from Pampanga. Then there is the Huk Supremo, Luis Taruc, who is also from the same province.” Truly , with that powerful and magnificent “trinity”, their province lorded it over, and it was the center of attention for sometime. It was festive for the people probably just like in the year l57l when, with all the rest of the discovered settlements in the islands still serving as mere outposts for trade, Manila and Pampanga were officially organized by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi as premier city and premier province respectively. Kapampangan is a beautiful language and is easy to learn. So easy , that the average person could learn it in no time. There have been authenticated cases in which non-speakers of the language have been able to learn to speak Kapampangan just from their own spouses in a non-Kapampangan environment. I know quite a few people from other provinces who are now topnotch speakers of the language and who gained fluency in it through their constant association with the native speakers. For a language that we would like to propagate, we don’t want to be too fussy in its grammatical rules so as not to discourage or intimidate those who want to learn it. We want our language to be flexible and user-friendly. After all, what is a language for, if not for communication? My principle is, as long as we are able to understand what is being conveyed, there should be no problem. Thus, we can tolerate sentences by non-Kapampangans such as: “buri cung matudtud” (bisa cung matudtud), “baquit atyu ca queti” (Obat atyu ca queti), “caluguran cu ica”(caluguran daca),“nanung oras na” (nanu nang oras) , “nanu lagyu mu” (nanu ca lagyu), “munta queni ica” (mequeni), “ali cu bisa” (e cu bisa),“iquit acu ya” (iquit que), “y Tata Simo mu” (y Tata mu Simo), and “ali cu balu” (tabalu). They are all clear enough and can easily be understood and should be acceptable. However, for the sake of native speakers themselves, who have to show proficiency, it’s a different matter. It would be very pathetic for a native Kapampangan not to have a good command of his own language. To achieve excellence as well as mastery of it, we have to abide by its correct grammar just like in English. With an easy-to-learn syntax, a very simple phonetic system, a rich vocabulary, and a large following that is centrally located in the Philippines, Kapampangan has all the ingredients to make it even qualify to become the national language. Presently and as always, Kapampangan literature is in short supply and as such, researchers in linguistics find it hard to study it and compare with other languages. To make the language available at their fingertips, as well as to help polyglots and others who want to learn it, I have undertaken this ambitious effort to write this dictionary, humble though it may be. While like most dictionaries it may not be complete, some future Kapampangan writers could make it the basis of their works or can just continue where this humble servant has left off. In my utmost desire to preserve our rich cultural heritage, I have adopted the so-called Spanish orthography. In line with preserving our old tradition and culture, I have retained the use of letters our great poets and dramatists such as Anselmo Fajardo, Crisostomo Sotto, Pabalan Byron and Felix Galura used during those golden years of Kapampangan writing, no matter how seemingly antiquated they may appear to be. That will only bear testimony to the fact that the language is as old as the classics (esp. the zarzuelas, comedias and corridos) written by those authors and which have endured the test of time. That will only give the language a unique aspect, and it is that uniqueness that redounds to our obtaining an identity. I don’t , however, condemn Pampangan writers who went the other way, maybe to greener pastures, in the same way I don’t criticize the Catholic church for breaking away from the tridentine style of which I am still nostalgic. I don’t blame writers for “Tagalogizing” Kapampangan in its orthography, and rationalizing that the Spanish style is too “difficult” to read (or write) even while they find English, with all its weird and complex spellings, so darn easy! Take the case of the following names of places for instance: Quezon, Quiogue, Quirino, Marinduque, Antique, and Paniqui. If we spell them Keson, Kioge, Kirino, Marinduke, Antike and Paniki, wouldn’t they appear even more exotic? If one is already familiar with such names as those mentioned above, it would not take him more than an hour at the most to learn to read (or write) “quing palenque”. And if he can read Baguio, Benguet, Camiguin, Dumaguete, Guimba, San Miguel, Taguig and Tuguegarao, why won’t he be able to read such words as bague, guera, guintu, sampaguita and sigue? And what about the multitudinous names of places that still retain their C-spellings and which greatly outnumber by ten to one the K-ones? In trying to simplify the Kapampangan language, some writers inadvertently make it lose its splendor , its charm, its sophistication, its glory, its elegance and artistry. So now, if we could only set the standards and hope that all die-hard and true-blue Pampangans would follow suit! Surely nobody would want Crissot and his ilk to rise from their graves and castigate posterity. In my haste to get this book done, I may have left out some common, easy everyday words and I would like any reader who discovered some to call my attention so that they could be included in some forthcoming edition. Likewise, and sad to say, there are probably many bombastic words that did not make it into this dictionary because I was not so sure as to their meanings and it is usually only the poets and bards that use them anyway. At any rate, I have sprinkled a few into the book after consulting with my uncle, Delfin Turla Quiboloy, the Kapampangan poet laureate, as to their meanings. Finally, let me say that no dictionary can ever claim to be complete -- especially in the case of a living language such as Kapampangan where many contemporary English words, mostly related to high tech , find their way into the language year after year. We can only cope with this trend by updating our word files from time to time. I hope that this lexicon would be of great help to scholars doing linguistic research, writers who may want to work on a selection of Kapampangan words to incorporate in Filipino, native speakers who want to broaden their horizons and acquire a larger vocabulary, and anyone who simply wants to learn Kapampangan just for fun. Ernie Turla, author, Classic Kapampangan Dictionary |
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